What's Up - August 2013
A Few Final Words about July
By Larry Shapiro
Larry Shapiro (right) with his Dorado. Pictured with Eric Lundahl - known as Baja Rico, ovner of Paja Pirates Sport Fishing Company. (Roger Marshall)Wow, what a month! It was the 4th of July almost everyday…the “Love Stories” continued like a Disney series about a little car. In this case the little yellow Throp “Sky Scooter” we shared the story with you about. This has continued to be a celebration of friends and flying and the story only got better.
The culmination of a simple handshake in front of this little yellow beauty was one of the most spectacular trips of my life … a flight down to La Paz Mexico. Now I don’t want to bore you with the great weather, great food, amazingly friendly and welcoming people and, most important, those darn marlin that kept eating my bait – now I’m getting even and I’m eating them – they are amazing sea creatures and I highly recommend this diet to all of you. To describe the thrill of a 100-pound marlin flying out of the water and ending up on your boat, well let’s just say this …OMG! Now I’m hooked as well.
I can now proudly call myself a Baja Pirate…and I hope I can be part of making you one as well. Please don’t listen to the silly stories about flying in Mexico and how dangerous it is. Read the headlines in our part of the coast and then tell me about dangerous. I adjusted quickly to the friendly folks that live in La Paz, got use to the slight accents of the controllers, and plugged in my sense of humor clearing customs in Ensenada. I now recommend flying direct to San Felipe, check in with the troops there, and then enjoy a safe, rich, and beautiful flight along the Baja coast. I promise you this won’t be the last trip of this kind for me.
If your flying club, group, friends, or strangers you met in line at the grocery store want to experience this first hand, I’ll hire myself out as your personal guide. I invite you to check out a great website and I hope I get you hooked as well. Ask for Baja Rico and tell him I sent you. www.bajapiratesoflapaz.com/
One more thing, the little Sky Scooter has blessed me with a new friend, who is now the proud owner of a 182 that flies like a dream and looks like a nightmare. He calls it the perfect Mexico airplane; it’s so ugly he’s sure no one will steal it. I’m looking forward to its maiden flight to La Paz, as it’s first officer/navigator, co-pilot/ and passenger.
And my final words on this subject are this: As I’m fighting my battle with the Big “C” and being forced to endure what is lovingly called Hormone Therapy, described by all the dudes and dudettes dressed in white as, “putting me through menopause,” I will now call it by the new name that I have given it, Men - O – Paz! I computed my therapy bills and it’s cheaper to go fishing, and a heck of lot more fun, and calculates out to be cheaper by the hour than laying on a couch and telling a funny guy wearing a bow tie how I’m feeling.
Important PS
If you or someone you know – man or woman – have endured a cancer battle via surgery involving “radio active seeds” as they are called, I plead with you to make sure you carry some documentation about your implants and their name. A card ,or a letter on your doctor’s letterhead will do, but don’t travel without it, and especially if you are traveling out of the country and customs officers are involved. I was detained at LAX for one and a half very scary hours and endured three Geiger counter shakedowns…there was no joy in Mudville and I will never allow this to happen to me again, and I don’t want it to happen to you.
Too Much Airplane, Not Enough Knowledge
Some things I can’t make fun of and this subject is one of them, I sadly call it, “Crashing before takeoff!” This past month there were three incidents that fell into this category and I openly admit this was not a committee decision, it’s mine, all mine, and I’ll take the hits or hugs on it.
Incident one you have all read about unless you were on the moon. And please, no hate mail on this, it’s my opinion and I take responsibility for its content. And just FYI, I was in sight of SFO when this happened, not by plan, but by coincidence. We can and will read millions of words about the ill fated 777 that thought it was higher and faster, but it wasn’t. At the end of the day, and I expect I will have a few of you that will agree with me, this was a simple case of pilot error. In hindsight and from my personal perspective, the crash happened before take off. I’d rather a have one-on-one discussions with you if you feel the need; my name is Larry Shapiro, and I approve this message.
Incident two was flying with a highly under-skilled pilot flying a very high performance aircraft with little experience. Being kind, he processed almost no navigational skills, relied on a panel full of the latest avionics toys, and his knowledge of those were equal to a piano player that knew how to play one key. An electrical failure or emergency would have spelled disaster. I hate having to write this, but he showed up for our flight with a medical that was three years past the due date. That should have been the first clue. Flying with limited currency and limited navigational knowledge and experience is like crashing before takeoff.
Number three was just a matter of time – good pilot, great guy, asking his airplane to do more than it could and knowing there might be a mechanical problem or that he might just be over grossed for where he was departing from. The ending of this story was the ending of his life. I hate writing this, but I do it to maybe save another good guy.
I have never written words like these and I’m always hoping I’ll be wrong. It’s hard to see someone taking off on a flight that could end with disastrous results. These words needed to be written. Hopefully you or someone you know may feel this was written for them, and I hope they get the message.
I’m Just Saying…
Writing this column has been challenging at times because pilots at times have opinions that differ from mine – thank goodness for that. I am always open to your comments, challenges, and suggestions and I’d rather you tell me personally how much you love or hate what I have to say. I’m one of the easiest guys to find. You are invited at anytime to write to the editor of In Flight USA to express your opinion, but be prepared to see it in print.
Cudos to Lindsey and Her Campers
Campers pose with firemen from Cal Fire. (Lindsey Anne Evens)So August is now here. Two great events needed to be acknowledged; first my wife’s birthday – I believe she is now legal to vote.
The other celebration hosted by One of the Best Flight Schools in our time zone will hold a festival in a few weeks. I wish I could remember why, but I know there will be food, some of which I will be cooking and I mention this because I need a lead in to another story about this club. When I first met them I was told they were the biggest non-profit school in the whole world. (I just made that part up, I’m not sure it was the whole world, but certainly in our time zone.)
I shared with you about meeting an 11-year-old student pilot a few weeks ago… then I heard about a 12 year-old training with one of our finest CFI types at PAO. Then, as I was sitting on one of the few benches at PAO free of Bird Souvenirs, I began the trill of meeting two 14-year-old students, followed by two much older ones – they were 15. Now I’ll admit this is not the normal procession of pilots heading out to their flying machines so I needed to learn more, and I’m glad I did.
Turns out that this group of youngsters were part of a summer camp, the brainchild of a member of our staff and supported by the above mentioned flight school. Here are the specs on this parade as explained by Lindsey Anne Evans the camp creator; in five days her campers received 10 hours of flight in a 172N with five hours of personal instruction from a CFI. Destinations included NASA Ames, The Hiller Aviation Museum (SQL), MX West Valley Flying Club tour plus a PAO tower tour, and the Hollister Cal fire dept. They also received their first logbooks, a binder full of aviation material, and one or two lessons of how to do the pilot swagger.
There aren’t many days as exciting to me as this was to watch these youngsters take their first steps into the “friendly skies.” Congratulations to all of you … you made my day and I hope we will meet again soon.
My personal thanks to the West Valley Flying School for providing the space, aircraft and support in making this Aviation Camp such an apparent success.
On Final
I regularly mention our troops in uniform. Why not invite a few over to your airport and offer them a view of your neighborhood that I love calling, “Seeing the Beauty Without the Beast.” Remember that not all of us get the joy of seeing our world from above.
Until next time …
That’s Thirty!
“Over”
About the writer: Larry Shapiro is an aircraft broker, aviation humorist and fulltime grandfather of three.
He’d love to have you share your thoughts and ideas for future articles. He can be reached at: Palo Alto Airport Office: 650-424-1801 or Larry@LarryShapiro.com.
